Australia: TV takes 84.5% of all video viewing

The latest Australian Multi-Screen Report – from Regional TAM, OzTAM and Nielsen, covering the fourth quarter of 2015 – shows that, despite the proliferation of connected devices, the vast majority of all video viewing in Australia takes place on in-home TV sets.

Across all screens and all types of video content – broadcast and non-broadcast – 84.5 per cent of viewing is on TV sets.

87.4 per cent of Australians watch broadcast TV on in-home TV sets each week, while 91.4 per cent of broadcast TV watched on TV sets was live to air.

Computers, tables and smartphones comprise 15.5 per cent of the time Australians spend watching video of any kind – an average 15 hours 42 minutes each month.

Australians played an average of 112 minutes per week of broadcasters’ Internet delivered TV content – only about 1 per cent of broadcast TV viewing in the period.

Chair of Regional TAM and Nine Entertainment Co Director of Regional Strategy Deborah Wright commented: “The Australian Multi-Screen report continues to provide a holistic national overview of consumers’ viewing habits across platforms and devices. In a market where consumers have an ever growing list of options to view video content, the in-home TV set remains the predominate screen of choice. Our Regional TAM audiences in particular are spending almost 95 hours a month on average watching television, which is almost 9.5 hours more than the national average.”

OzTAM CEO Doug Peiffer added: “Connected devices are the new PVRs. As penetration rates for conventional personal video recorders level off, the number of PVRs actually in the market has grown dramatically: people now use their desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones to watch catch up TV – just as they’ve grown used to time-shifting their broadcast viewing. Today, access to content means anywhere, any time, any connected device. OzTAM’s new VPM Report tracks this emerging behaviour, revealing how the audience to a piece of content travels across all platforms.”

Other highlights include:
– 22.1 million Australians watch broadcast television (free-to-air and subscription channels) each month – an average 85 hours and 17 minutes on in-home TV sets per month.
– Approximately 99 per cent of all broadcast TV material viewed each month happens on in-home TV sets, 97 per cent of Australians can do so on every household TV set, and 95 per cent can receive high definition DTT broadcasts on every household TV set.
– 32 per cent of homes have Internet-capable TVs, whether connected or not (up from 30 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2014).
– 49 per cent of homes have tablets (up from 47 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2014).
– 80 per cent of Australians aged 14+ own a smartphone (up from 76 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2014).
– Over 13 million Australians watch some video on the internet each month: on average 8 hours and 23 minutes per month, up 55 minutes from 7 hours and 28 minutes per month a year ago. – Such viewing is highest among 18-24 year-olds, who watch 19 hours and 59 minutes of video online per month.